A BEXLEY councillor has slammed the “I know my rights” society, claiming the demand for CCTV is driven by a lack of community responsibility.

Councillor Alex Sawyer claimed CCTV would not be so widespread if everyone played a part in making Bexley a safer place.

In a speech which took some people in Bexley’s council chamber last week by surprise, Cllr Sawyer declared: “The need for CCTV may not be as great as it is, if police were allowed to police effectively without political interference; if they reverted back to being a police force as opposed to a police service.”

He said parents should take more responsibility for their children “teaching them the difference between right and wrong and not palming off their responsibilities onto others, including teachers.”

He also criticised the “I know my rights” society in which, he claimed: “The rights of the criminal are placed above those of the law-abiding majority."

He said: “It should be a right, not a luxury for our residents to be able to walk down our streets without fear of attack, abuse or crime.”

But he added: “We don’t live in a world of ‘ifs’, we live in a world where the cold hard face of crime and anti-social behaviour stares back at us each and every day.”

And he said that was why Bexley needed a decent CCTV system.

Cllr Sawyer praised a £7m contract Bexley Council has just signed with technology giants Siemens to update and manage the borough’s CCTV system.

He represents Northumberland Heath where a £10,000 state-of-the-art CCTV camera has been installed in Bexley Road.

Cllr Sawyer said: “I won’t pretend Northumberland Heath has become utopia since the camera’s introduction.

“Only last week I was informed a group of marauding hooligans attacked the bus stop and, of course, for some people the prospect of being on camera often lead them to deliberately act like pillocks.

“But the camera has brought a degree of security that was previously lacking.”

He said lack of investment in CCTV meant poor imagery and no 180 no 260 degree camera capability which could lead to less offenders being identified which would “put a smirk on the cold hard face of crime”.